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I am new here, but I am loving reading these reviews.

I thought in anticipation to my upcoming Disney Dream cruise/WDW/Sea World vacation at the end of March, I thought I would post the TR from my last trip in March of 2009! It was our best Disney trip to date, and I hope I can give a little insight on the things we did to help others.

 

So here it is....If I am not doing it in the correct style for this board, let me know!

 

 

 

Hello everyone! This is a 6 night trip to WDW, celebrating my 40th birthday! The trip was March 8-14,2009, but my birthday was actually Feb 14.

 

The cast was

Me~ Jen

DH~ Skip

DD~ Claire, who was 4.

 

 

We have gone to WDW in March for the past couple of years (2007, 2008, and now 2009) and really enjoy it, and the weather is usually pretty decent, and crowds aren’t too bad.

 

I took A LOT of pictures this trip, and will post a lot of them. It may start out slow, but once I get going, there will be a ton.

The basics…

DH is a dairy farmer. I’m currently a stay at home mom. I have two older children, but they really don’t do Disney any more.

Claire is DH’s only child and she is much younger than the other two. Claire loves to dress up…so we brought a lot of costumes, and she prefers dresses to shorts, so I also brought some sundresses for her too. She’s a very girly girl, who likes to wear a dress out to the barn to help dad!

 

I also want to add that we have always start our trip on a Sunday, and the last 2 trips,....on Thursday.... , Claire has gotten sick. We figure the reason for the sickness was over stimulation.... (AND last trip she licked a pole on the bus too ). So the goal was to try to take it a bit slower and let her get her sleep. (and no pole licking )

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March 8th

The big day!!!!

 

My basic plans were to fly to Sandford, pick up rental car,

check in at Pop Century,

drop off bags in room,

stop off in gift shop to get an autograph book,

head off to MK right away,

watch spectro magic,

eat at CRT at 9:35,

and get in what rides we could and stay as late as we could handle. (the park had EMH closing at 1.)

 

Here’s how our day went.

 

I think I got up around 6:30. I got showered and ready. I packed the last minute stuff into the luggage and then loaded the car up. DH had gotten up to do some last minute work, and make sure the farm would be running smoothly while we were gone.

I think I woke Claire up a little before 9.

 

She was so excited. I got her dressed and showed her that a little note and present had been left on the counter for her. It was from Nemo!

 

 

She wasn’t to open the gift till we got to the airport, so we packed it in her carryon. She kept asking how Nemo got to our house. Did he swim here? And how did he open the door?

It was so cute.

 

My dad arrived a little after 9 and was prepared to load my car, but I told him it was done. DH came in to shower, and I told him I was going to go put gas in the car to be sure we had no problems, since it was less than a quarter tank.

(we have some gas pumps on the farm)

It was pouring so I put on a hooded coat and drove out to the pump and filled it. Of course there is a big puddle in front of the pump.....

We then piled into the car, and I was elected to drive. Toledo airport is only about 10 minutes from our house.

 

My dad and Skip kept cutting up my driving,... I was going too fast, then too slow, ...waiting to long, etc. I was getting ticked off. I swear sometimes it’s so scary how much my DH is like my dad.

I also reminded Skip that this trip is supposed to be celebrating my 40th birthday, and he’s supposed to be nice to me. (he totally forgot that part, of course)

 

We got to the airport about 9:45 and took our luggage in, and dad drove off in the car to take it back home.

The line for Allegiant was very long. So we waited our turn. Very hard for an excited 4 your old, but she did fine.

 

We headed through security and Claire’s bag had to be ran through several times. They pulled out her leapster and her gift, and wanted to know what was in it. Luckily she wasn’t paying attention when I told them it was a game for her leapster.

 

We headed upstairs and got a seat. DH laid down immediately.

 

 

 

Claire and I went and got a cinnamon bun and she chose a chocolate muffin. We got a couple of drinks to take on board with us too. We sat down and I ate the cinnamon bun and Claire didn’t want any, and she gave Skip the chocolate muffin. LOL! What a nut!

 

She then opened her gift from Nemo, which was a Nemo game for her leapster. So that kept her busy for awhile.

 

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We got called to board at 11:15. Of course at that very minute Skip decides to go to the bathroom. I kept telling him we would board shortly after 11, as my parents took this same exact flight a month ago, and thats when they boarded, but he doesn't listen to me much. (As you can see ...a pattern is forming ...Skip driving me nuts alot on this trip. LOL But I still love him )

So Claire and I headed up to board and then had to wait a minute for Skip, but they still allowed us to do the pre-board with a child, even though they had started calling others too.

 

We took off on time. The flight was uneventful. It was a bit bumpy the whole way, but not bad. I read a little and played with Claire some, and we ate snacks that I packed.

 

We landed about 10 minutes early and got right off.

We decided I would get luggage, while they went to get the rental car. Our luggage came through fast and I had it right away and headed off to the rental counter only to find them still in line.

 

 

Skips sister works for Hertz, so we got out car about half price of what it would normally be. I had told her I would like a van, but she booked some kind of Mazda. She said she would email them and tell them to upgrade it. Well our upgrade was a Malibu.

 

We walked outside and the weather was awesome! 83 degrees! The first thing Claire said was "I like Florida!!!!!"

 

She asked me if there was a pool at the hotel (she must not have remembered, but we have stayed there the last 2 years as well.) I said yes, and she said she would need to swim right away to "cool off" before we did anything. LOL! What a sweetie!

 

Skip never paid attention to where the lady told him the car was parked, so we had to wonder a bit to find it. He went in the total opposite direction, and I kept saying I see a Hertz sign over there. But would he listen… NO!

We finally asked someone where Hertz was and sure enough I was right.

We loaded up the car and Claire started to panic. “Where’s our car?” “It’s at home, ...remember Pappa took it back home”,... “we can’t use this!!! I want our car”…LOL!

 

Finally she accepted this car and got in. When I loaded the trunk, I found all this plastic junk that look like it fell off the car or some other car. I put it in the back seat because it was oddly shaped and wouldn't allow our luggage to all fit back there. I was a little mad that they left this JUNK in the car. We needed all available space with several suitcases, carryon's and a stroller.

 

Finally we were off to Pop. The Hertz lady gave Skip different directions to Disney. I had Mapquested it, and we decide to go with Mapquest because it told us how to get to Pop directly.

We had no traffic (several tolls) and we got there in under an hour.

 

Our official trip is about to begin!

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We arrived at pop Century and parked the car. Skip had to make a mad dash to the bathroom, so Claire and I took our time walking up to the lobby.

 

 

 

The line was long. We got into it and waited our turn. It did move pretty fast.

 

 

 

 

Skip joined us in line and we checked in. I had faxed our room request (and had it on our reservation as well), on Wednesday. We got the exact location I had requested. YAY! I had asked for first floor, poolside, in the 60’s section. We were right next to Mowgli, in room 1572. Basically 3 doors down from where we were last year.

 

I did have to remind the CM that we got the $200 gift card. She said it wasn’t noted, but she would get one. (I did have my paperwork that showed we got one, but she never asked to see it)

 

We got our KTTW’s and the gift card and off Claire and I went to the room. Skip went to pull the car up close to unload the luggage. We dropped off our bags in the room ,and Claire and I met Skip and got the rest of the stuff. He went back and re-parked the car. Hauling the luggage was not an easy task. It was heavy, and Skip basically got out of doing it all. Sneaky bugger!

 

I think this is the ONLY picture I took of our room. I wanted to take a bunch, but I guess I was too busy and excited.

 

 

Here’s our room. It’s the one under the sixties sign with the magnets on the door.

 

 

 

Last trip our room was 2 doors to the right of Baloo.

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Claire could hardly wait to get in the pool.

 

I got her swimsuit out and out we went the few steps from our room to the pool. We got a life jacket and in she went. She was soooooooo excited!

 

 

 

Some shots around the pool.

 

 

 

 

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I think we checked in around 4. I remember looking at my watch and thinking “Oh, Gosh this is prime check in time.”

 

We were a bit hungry and our ADR wasn’t until 9:35 PM. Skip went off and got some nuggets and fries while I stayed with Claire at the pool.

 

After he got back, I said I was going to get something too. I stopped and took a few pictures from the smoking section.

 

 

 

And then I ran into the gift shop to get an autograph book. Imagine my surprise when I saw all toys were 35 % off and plush was 25% off. Oh goodie!

 

Last trip we had bought Claire the train set (which I think was about $50 or $60) and had it shipped home (which I think was another $15)

 

There was a really awesome castle that Claire liked as well, and I was debating on getting it this year. I think it ran about $70, plus another $15 to ship it home. I had been thinking of possibly buying it this year. I actually found a thread on it a few weeks before the trip and everyone who got it, LOVED it. I just didn’t know if I was willing to spend $85 on it. I figured I would wait towards the end of the trip and see how much stuff we had bought ,and if I had extra money for it. Wit hthe sale. I thought I might as well.

 

I noticed none of the castles were out at Pop though.

 

I picked up the autograph book and asked the CM if this sale was only at Pop or world wide. He thought it was just for Pop, for the whole month of March. (I later found out it was world wide). I asked if they had any more castles and he said yes, they had a bunch in the back and would be bring them out over night. So I pretty much decided I would most likely get one since they were on sale. I would just wait till they were out. I was in no hurry. I still had several days to get it.

 

I then went into the food court and decided I would get a nice and healthy HOT FUDGE SUNDAE!! MMM!

 

I also picked up some refillable mugs for Skip and I. I had brought last years along as well, mostly for Claire. She wouldn’t really be getting anything out of the fountains, but I wanted a cup for her milk or juice, so she wouldn't spill all over.

 

Here are the cups. I actually didn’t take the picture till I got home. I wanted to go back and take a cool shot of the mug tower, but every time I went in, it was busy, so I never did. Excuse the mess on the counter. LOL!

 

 

I returned to the pool to eat my sundae. This thing was melting super fast, but it was still good. Claire spotted it and came out for a quick bite and then ran right back to the pool. I finished it off fast…I mean I had to right? It was melting!

Well Claire popped back out of the pool about 2 seconds after I took that last bite. (and I scraped that bowl clean too) and wanted some more.. OOPS! I told her I could go get her a ice-cream cone or a sundae if she wanted and she chose a cone.

So back to the food court I went.

 

I got her a rainbow sherbert cone. I brought it back and told her to come eat it. She wanted to eat it in the pool. UH…NO! So she came out and started on it. It, too, was melting fast. She took a couple of licks and told me to save it for her. I don’t think that would work. LOL! So I made her eat it up for the most part and then she ran back to the pool for a little more swimming.

 

 

 

After a little more swimming I told her it was time to get dried up and go to MK. She got right out and we went in the room to change. She decided to wear her Minnie dress with her ears.

We went out to tell Skip we were ready. He was napping by the pool.

 

 

He decided he would meet up with us later. Skip had been having problems sleeping and had gone to a sleep clinic. (totaly waste of time) They gave him meds, which seem to do nothing, and he had a mask he was to wear at night and he hated it, and ended up taking it off most nights. So he had beeen tired a lot lately.

 

So off to the bus stop Claire and I went. As we are walking onto the bus the bus driver is saying hi to my princess, but she is looking the other way and saying something else. I try to get her attention, and look up and see that Skip is walking our way. He decided to come along.

 

On the bus ride over, I tell him about the toys being on sale (which he could care less about). I told him I was thinking of getting the castle for Easter for Claire. I spelled out the crucial stuff and he wondered why I was spelling. LOL! I said AGAIN, because it is for E-A-S-T-E-R. OOOOOH!

The lady next to me told me she just bought one the day before and was having it shipped home. (She was the one who told me the sale was world wide. ) She said the castle was about 47ish on sale and another 12 (she thought) to ship it home. So I told Skip I was probably going to get one and send it home.

 

We arrived at the MK around 6ish, I think.

 

We walked in and immediately to our right we saw Pluto. The line was very short, so we stopped off to say hi and Claire got her 1st autograph of the trip. Pluto danced with her and really took time with her. (no photopass guy there though)

 

 

 

 

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As we were standing in line for Pluto a parade was going on. I wasn’t sure what this was, but we asked the CM standing there and he said they now have several parades a day. It was funny how he said it. He had the southern accent and he seemed like he was just tired of a lot of parades. LOL! This one was a block party type like they have at HS now. I later found out it was the " Move it Shake it." It stops around the hub and does its thing (dancing and invites everyone to join in), then proceeds down Main Street afterwards. This parade happens 3-4 times a day I guess. This was the last one for the day. I figured we’d surely catch it at some other point in our trip. Claire usually loves parades.

 

After Pluto we worked our way down Main Street. We weren’t sure what we wanted to do first. I knew it would still be pretty busy, (Spectro Magic was showing tonight) so lines would still be long for rides.

We have found in past years, that on Spectro nights with EMH’s, the parks clear out pretty fast after Wishes, and it’s the best time to get a lot of rides in then.

 

As we walked up I took one of those famous pictures everyone likes to get of the bunch of balloons. Mine isn’t so great, but not the worst either.

 

 

And then I had to get the castle. I had a heck of a time shooting the castle this year. I must stand tilted or something, because most of my shots are tilted. ( This one was decent though)

 

 

 

When we got to the hub, Skip decided he wanted some popcorn. I swear this is one of his favorite things at Disney. I told him if he got the smaller one it would count as a snack credit. (we were on the dining plan) He came back with the bucket. I guess he wanted more, which was good, because Claire pretty much stole it from him. She even put the hood up on her stroller so it would be harder for him to reach for any.

I shot some pictures while we waited for him.

 

 

 

Here she is eating some of the popcorn. (before she got super greedy)

 

 

While he was buying the popcorn, I was watching CM’s taking down confetti streamers out of the trees from the parade. It was fun to watch. This guy couldn’t get this piece out and ended up leaving it there.

 

 

Now we had to decide what we wanted to do. Skip said about 30 times ( a little irritating after awhile ) that we shouldn’t ride anything that had a long wait, since we could basically walk on everything after dinner. Like I didn’t know that!

 

So we randomly headed off towards the tea cups.

 

 

Claire wanted to ride them, but I told Skip he would have to ride it with her since they make me sick. He said he didn’t want to get sick either. LOL!

So we walked off towards Pooh.. The line didn’t look too bad, so we parked the stroller and got in line. Once in line we saw that the wait time was longer than we wanted to wait, and looking at the line we could tell it was long, so we jumped out.

 

We started wandering through Fantasyland and I mentioned “Oh there’s where Ariel is”. The immediate reply from a little voice was “I want to see Ariel!”.

 

 

The sign said 40 minutes. UGH! But we got in line and Skip went off on his own.

I took a few pictures while waiting.

 

A very patient girl waiting in line.

 

 

Some of the scenery on the path we are waiting in.

 

 

 

As we got with in site of the “chain” (the spot they let you in to actually see her), Claire said she had to go potty! I told her we were close, but she said she had to go BAD. I told her to think of other things. The family behind us said they would keep our spot, but they didn’t know if they would be already through and out of line by the time we got back, which is what I was thinking too.

Soon we were let into the chained off area, and Ariel was now ins site. This took Claire’s mind off the potty situation totally.

She was mesmerized.

 

 

I must add before I go on, that Ariel and Belle are Claire’s 2 favorite princesses. She just loves them both and she has asked me to change her name to Arielbelle.

So FINALLY we meet Ariel. Claire was in heaven and Ariel talked a mile a minute to her. It was dark in the cave and my pictures didn’t turn out that grand, but the photopass ones look great! I'll post them later.

 

 

 

 

 

After the wonderful meet with Ariel, Claire grabs my hand and says “let’s run, I have to go potty”. LOL! So we make the mad dash for the bathrooms. Claire is talking non-stop about all Ariel has told her (which I can’t remember ) and then I ask her, “what else did Ariel say”, and she gets a blank look and says “Gosh, I can’t remember anymore!” It was just so cute. She was so happy! We made it to the potty on time and all was good in Claire’s world.!As we were standi

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After the bathroom break, Claire and I wandered a bit. We went to the smoking section near liberty square and beeped Skip on the Nextel. He was just about to get on Space Mountain. So we decided that Claire and I would get a spot for Spectro Magic in Liberty Square since it wasn’t too crowded yet.

 

It was 7:30 and Spectro started at 8.

We found a spot right in front of the Hall of Presidents (which is boarded up for refurbishment…...I assume adding Obama)

 

We parked the stroller in our spot and walked a few steps over to the Hula hoop guy to play.

 

 

 

 

After a bit Skip beeped us and said he was on his way. He stopped off to get a drink for Claire and I. ... I think he got to our spot about 10 minutes before Spectro was due to hit our area. (It was after 8 when he got there)

 

I took some pictures of them waiting. Claire is still chowing on that popcorn.

 

 

 

I have to say one of my most favorite things at Disney is Spectro Magic. I get chills watching it. It just gives me a special feeling. I want to tear up with joy. And I LOVE the song. The spot we had this year was great. There wasn’t enough room for people to stand behind us and crowd in. The families on each side of us had plenty of room and didn’t crowd in. The one family next to us had several people ask if they could squeeze in with them and they told them no. The lady said she just hates that. When you let someone into a small spot they tend to take it over, and she is right.

I had a lady last trip ask if her DD could squeeze in next to Claire and I said yes. (we were standing behind her for the afternoon parade) This lady then squeezes in herself and FIVE other kids! Claire still had a good view, but she was squished.

So on to Spectro Magic!

 

I took some video. I am terrible at it, but it still gives you the feeling of it. Of course it’s so much better in person and the sound is so much better in person.

 

Mickey

 

 

Chip and Dale

 

 

 

 

Little Mermaid

 

 

Cinderella/Alice

 

 

Several characters waved right at Claire. She was so excited. Minnie blew her a kiss, as well as Snow White. I think one other did too, but I can’t for the life of me remember who, but she would get so excited each time. Bashful walked up to her and shook her hand.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by jenseib
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After Spectro we made another potty stop.

 

Then we went against the traffic flow . After Spectro, everyone usually heads towards the castle to see Wishes. We decided we didn’t care if we saw it. We also had two other days to catch it if we chose. We like wishes a lot, but the crowds around the castle are just awful and it drives me batty at times.

 

We decided we would look for a “big girl” ride for Claire. This was the first year she was tall enough for some of the bigger rides. And boy was she excited about that!!!! She kept talking about what a big girl she was.... constantly.

 

We went to Splash Mountain to check out the wait time….20 minutes…we had time before our ADR!

 

The wait was only 10 minutes.

 

I was hoping we wouldn’t get very wet, so we didn’t go to dinner dripping.

I only got a light splash when we floated by the spot where the boat comes down. The girl in front of me got it more.

 

Skip had never ridden this ride either, and was amazed with the theming and story it had inside.

 

 

As we rounded outside on the boat, Wishes was going off. How beautiful to see the fireworks from up high on the “mountainside.” It was such a magical moment and Claire oohed and ahhed!

 

Every room and turn we went into Skip would say “here it comes”, but I was pretty sure we had a ways to go yet. Then the big drop came! I ducked WAY down so I wouldn’t get wet. None of us did though. Claire loved it! She was a big girl now.

We got off and went to look at the picture they take of you coming down. You can’t see me or Claire. LOL! I was ducked down too far and Claire is too short. LOL!

 

When we got off we noticed it was getting close to our ADR time, so we walked back towards the castle.

 

I was super excited about eating in the castle at CRT. As you know, this is a really hard place to get into, and it books up fast, MONTHS ahead of time. We didn’t book our trip till Jan 26th. I had called that day and there was no opening.

 

This day was also not scheduled to be an Extra Magical Hour day. Originally it was scheduled for HS. But with the princess half marathon going on, they switched it up and had the party for the competitors and their families at HS and made MK have the EMH’s…which I was very happy about.

On a whim, on Feb 21 I called to see, since the hours were extended ,if they would have any openings….and they DID! 9:35 PM was the only time, but since I knew we would be at the park late, it was a perfect time for us. Since I had already made all our ADR’s for the dining plan, we paid out of pocket for this one.

 

Something about eating in the castle was just so exciting for me. I have heard mixed reviews about it, but I wanted to at least have the experience once in my life, and for Claire to as well.

 

So….we walked over to the Castle after Splash Mountain.

 

 

 

We went to the check in desk and had no problems getting checked in, but the people in front of seemed to be having problems…not sure what that was about?

 

We then walked INTO the castle. How exciting!

 

I made Claire stand next to this knight. LOL!

 

 

We then got in line to “meet” Cinderella in her Royal Castle. While waiting I started randomly shooting pictures of the area.

 

 

 

 

We finally make it up to Cinderella. The line wasn’t too long though.

Cinderella took Claire’s hand and walked her to the chair.

 

 

 

I had my camera set on manual and for some reason shot some REALLY crappy pictures before I realized my settings were bad. I don’t like to use flash that much, but since it was dark in there I ended up doing some with it. Thank goodness the photographer got some great shots…..which are on my photopass CD, and I will post later!

 

I also realized after seeing the pictures later on, that I never took her jean jacket off.

 

Cinderella signed Claire’s book and they talked. We were last in line, so she kind of took a little time with her.

 

 

 

After that we sat down and waited to be called upstairs.

Cinderella must’ve been waiting for another family because she didn’t leave and she got up and kind of roamed.

 

 

Another family came in and she went to talk to the little girl and get pictures taken.

 

After that she roamed again…and then a wonderful thing happened. .... She came and sat next to Claire and talked to her for AT LEAST 5 minutes. Claire was in heaven and just talking away with her. It was like they were best friends. It was very special.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then another family came in and Cinderella had to go greet them. Look at the little smirk on Claire’s face.

 

Edited by jenseib
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Very nice Jen!

 

I love how Claire was having so much fun!

 

I am a sucker for kids having a good time

 

 

Thanks for sharing!

 

 

Peace, Big Mike

 

Thanks. I really love watching her have a great time. In the old days I planned most everything that I wanted to do, now I am so different. I love to plan things that I think she will enjoy and I enjoy that more.

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After Claire’s talk with Cinderella, I asked her what they talked about. She told me school and different things like that. But the most memorable thing to her was the mice up on a rafter. I really had to look to find them.

 

 

Cinderella told her that they were frozen up there by the fairy godmother because they kept eating all the food.

 

She also said that Cinderella told her she would have a wonderful time at dinner, but she didn’t want to spoil the surprise for her. AW!

 

The other family waiting asked if I would take a picture of them, so I did. They then offered to take one of Claire and I, (Skip was in the bathroom)

 

 

Skip came out while we were getting it done, so the lady then took a family picture.

 

 

And a few other random shots while waiting. I had to make sure this suit of armor didn’t get jealous of the other one, so we took one next to him too.

 

 

 

After a little wait, our name was finally called. We were the second to last to be seated for the night. It was full when we went in, but by the time we left the place was pretty empty.

 

Our march up the royal stairs. princess:

 

 

Now for dinner at…..

 

 

We got seated. Claire checked out her menu, which you could color on as well.

 

 

Our waiter came out and introduced himself (I think it was Gustuvo?). He was funny and he opened up his coat to reveal a bunch of toy swords. He gave one to Skip and I could see Claire eyeing him quickly. Then he acknowledged my birthday and gave me a magic wand. Again Claire was eyeing. LOL! He then gave Claire a magic wand and she was happy.

 

Here is the menu, a crappy picture again.

 

 

 

Claire ordered the chicken noodle soup, Hotdog with green beans, and the Royal Sundae.

I got the corn and crab chowder (MMM good!) Prime Rib with little potatoes and Asparagus.

Skip ordered the BLT salad, and the pork chop with mash potatoes, and I think mushrooms. I can’t tell by the picture, and I didn’t write it down.

Skip and I got the Chocolate Buckle for dessert. The food was great too. I’ll go more into it in the dining review. But I could eat Chocolate Buckle EVERYDAY!!! (Sadly this is no longer on the new menu)

 

After ordering our waiter came back with the appetizers. He told us that he told the Fairy Godmother that I was celebrating my birthday and she would acknowledge me. He also brought back a birthday card signed by Belle, Snow White and Cinderella. (I assume the other 2 princesses are there in the daytime.)

He said that he put in an order for a cake for me too. He said this several times, but he never did bring it. I think he forgot towards the end, but that was OK, because there was no way we would have ever been able to eat it, and to lug it around would’ve been a pain too. (even though it is just a small thing)

 

Claire’s soup had carrots and celery in it, so I had to pick all that out for her. She won’t eat it if one of those accidentally slip in her mouth.

 

About the same time, the fairy godmother, Susie and Perla came out to do the show. (I don’t know which mouse is which. )

 

Claire was pretty much turned around in her seat watching. They sang and flew around the room. The 2 mice stopped by for a picture, but they were so fast I could barely get my camera up and they were gone.

 

 

 

Fairy Godmother was moving even faster, so it was really hard to get a picture of her, and she never stopped at the table. She just kept singing and running around. She did acknowledge my birthday and pointed at me. I think Claire was a little jealous of that, because she gave me an evil eye!.

 

 

 

Claire basically picked at her soup. She was too interested in the show. She did eat a little though. (chicken noodle soup is one of her favorite oods too) When the show got over, she kept asking when they would be out again. I told her I don’t think they will, because I think it was the last one of the night. She said maybe if she ate, they would come out again…AH, sure, if that gets you to eat.

 

Then her hot dog came out and she said she wasn’t hungry. I told her if she didn’t eat it, there would be no more rides, so she ate it, but not the green beans.

 

Finally the best part came. DESSERT!

 

I have to say it was just wonderful.

 

 

Claire’s sundae came with a chocolate crown on it. She basically dipped the crown in the ice-cream and then licked it off the crown. When she had enough of the ice-cream, she ate the crown. She was a bit chocolaty after that. Thanks goodness I brought along wipes. I think she did then eat some of the ice-cream with her spoon, but only about half, and Skip finished it off.

 

 

 

I also took various pictures of the inside of the restaurant. None came out all that great. I wish I had brought my SLR to the dinner!

 

 

 

 

We didn’t have a window seat, but the place was clearing out, so I walked over to the window and took this picture of the view. How pretty is that?

 

 

 

These pictures don’t even come close to doing it justice. It was beautiful!

 

As we were leaving, I tried to take a shot of Claire and Skip (who were in the lobby) from the spiral steps. Didn’t come out all that great either.

 

 

When we walked outside, I had to take pictures of where we just were. Those lighted windows are where we just ate!

 

 

 

And then I had to take a few of the mosaics in the walkway through the castle. :cutie:

 

 

Edited by jenseib
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One cute thing Claire kept saying all through dinner was “I’ve seen so many characters today.” It was so cute, because she really only saw a handful, but was excited about all she saw.

 

After we walked out of the castle, we spotted Mickey and Minnie right by Sir Mickey’s.

 

 

I didn’t think characters were out during EMH’s. But I was wrong. We actually saw several out during the night, and heard of others. We only stopped for Mickey and Minnie. The CM told me the line was about 15 minutes where we were at, including the 2 minute cheesecake break the Mouse’s were taking. Skip walked off to smoke.

 

I took some pictures of the windows of Sir Mickey’s.

 

 

 

 

Skip came back to stay with Claire in line.

 

 

I went off to take a picture of this statue nearby.

I did one with flash and one without. I thought both were kind of neat.

 

 

 

That's the rags to riches fountain!! If you stand in front of it it just looks like Cinderella but if you kneel directly in front of it it looks like she has the crown on her head (the one on the wall behind her). Just a little bit of trivia for you!

 

Finally it was our turn to see the Big Cheese and his gal!

 

 

 

 

 

Now there should be one more picture, one with me in it..but I had given Skip the camera and he can’t take a picture to save his life He took it... and I said the flash didn’t go off, and he said, “I took it”. ...Sure enough no picture was there. Thank goodness the photopass guy got one with me in it. (DH wouldn’t get in most of the pictures for some stupid reason)

 

While we were in line DH said he wanted to go to Space Mountain next and have Claire ride it. I told him the height requirement was 44 (Claire was 42 inches) but he swore it was 40. So to appease him we went over there next. I was right (of course, LOL) She couldn’t ride it. We walked over to BuzzLightyear and the wait was like 30 minutes! I got us a fast pass for later and we went on the Tommorrowland Transit Authority. Claire always liked this in the past, but this year she said it was "stupid."

 

Here she is on the TTA

 

 

We decided to make our way over to another “big girl” ride, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. I took a few shots on the way over.

 

 

 

As we walked through Adventureland, we noticed that Aladdin’s Flying Carpets was just walk on, so we hopped on.

 

 

 

I suggested we hit Pirates too. Claire said “it’s a stupid ride”. What happened to my little girl who used to love pirates! I made her ride it anyways. It was walk on too. They were even sending empty boats. She seemed to enjoy it, but did make the comment that she didn’t want to ride it again.

 

 

 

 

 

I think this year she was more “scared” on some things, and in the beginning of pirates when they say “Dead men tell no tales” she was a little spooked.

 

We then went over to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. The line said 10 minutes. I think that was just about how long it took to walk directly through the queue. LOL! It was walk on, but the queue walkway is a bit long.

 

 

We were put right up front. She loved it too. It was fun, and it was neat being in front. I don’t think I ever sat in front on that before.

 

I asked while we were riding if it was scary, and she just keeps staring ahead and says “I Love It!!”

 

It was getting pretty late now, and Claire said she wanted to leave. But I insisted we go back and ride Buzz with our fastpasses.

 

 

I had originally heard that this ride was going to be shut down for the 1st 2 days of our trip for refurbishment. I don’t know if they got done early or what, but it was open, and I was happy. This is one ride we like to do on an EMH night because the line isn’t too long. This was the longest I had ever seen the line on an EMH night, so that is why we got the FP’s. The standby line was still about 20 minutes when we returned too. We got on pretty fast with the FP’s and enjoyed it as always. And once again I beat Skips score!!!!

 

We made our way up front, and of course I made my family stop for a couple of Photopass pics with the lit up castle in the background. I always love these pictures. But one guy must’ve had wrong settings or something, because our faces are blurred in every shot he took. And Claire shut her eyes and pretended to sleep I guess none of those will be Christmas card material.

 

It was close to 1 (closing time) and I still had so much energy. I wasn’t tired in the least bit! I wish it was open later, though I don’t think my family could’ve made it any longer.

 

I tried to shoot a few pictures on the way up front.

 

 

 

We then headed out to the bus stop

 

 

It was a VERY full bus. Claire dozed off on the trip back. The bus was playing music and one of the Chipmunks songs came on. Claire perked right up and goes “Chipmunks!” And began to sing. LOL!

 

We got back to the room and settled down. Well, sort of. Claire was wound up. I think lights finally went out at 2. And it took me quite a while to fall asleep. I just have so much adrenaline going when I’m at Disney. I need no sleep. Why can’t I be like that at home? I finally drifted off and slept soundly for 3 hours. After that I was ready to be going again. But I tried to sleep again and dozed off and on till 7:30 AM.

 

We had a great 1st day. I think we got a lot done, but was disappointed we didn’t get as many rides done as I thought I would. We almost always do Dumbo, Pooh and Haunted Mansion on EMH nights since the lines are not bad, but we missed those. But we did do some new stuff. We never did make it onto Haunted Mansion the whole trip, (Claire just didn’t want to do it) or Dumbo, (as the lines for it are awful in the day) . We did do a lot of fun stuff though.

On to day 2!

Edited by jenseib
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Thanks for sharing all the pic! Love that you're reports are more detailed. Have fun on the cruise! Looking forward to see your pics from that also.

 

--Robb

 

Thank you. I like to be detailed...as much as I can. I know when I have read TR's in the past, I want to know everything!!! So I try to write it for those who might not have a clue what there is to offer, or reading a TR for the first time ever.

I keeps scanning dicsussion boards for cruise TR's lately. Many are good...but I want more details. The one I found here was pretty darn good though!

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Here are some castle shots. I normally LOVE these. But the first set was taken when the castle was yellow. I hate the castle yellow. I just don't think it looks as pretty.

 

 

 

And then we get the castle at a blueish color, but the settings must be wrong or something, because each picture has blurred mine and Skips faces. And look at DORKY Claire...pretending to be asleep in each picture.

 

 

 

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Looks like a really fantastic trip, I loved Disney when I was little and it's the best experience anyone can have.

 

I did too. Though I only went once when I was little. And then only MK was open. I am so glad to be able to take Claire now. I took my older two when the ywere little, but I knew so much less about Disney then. (no internet back then for me). I really try to make it a fun trip for all of us....but it does have it's ups and downs at times too.

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Day 2, March 9, 2009

 

Monday

 

Our plans for the day were….

To let Claire sleep in as long as possible (waking her around 11:30 if she slept that long)

Going to Bibbidi Bobbiddi Boutique at 1:30

Going to Exposition Hall after the makeover to get photos

Eating at 1900 Park Fare at 4:40 for dinner

Going back to the park till close (8PM) and doing whatever we could during that time.

 

Of course all doesn’t go as planned, but still works out just fine!

 

I finally got up around 7:30 after trying to sleep more, but just KNOWING I couldn’t.

I showered and was dressed and ready about 8:15. While I was getting ready, Claire was talking in her sleep. She kept saying “it’s so beautiful.” Wonder what she was dreaming about? I also set out her “gift” from the Fairy Godmother.

I then went on my morning walk to take pictures while Skip and Claire slept.

 

Here is our door/room.

 

 

Other shots

 

 

 

The view from our room looking left.

See this guy to the right of the picture? He has a power washer. It is basically right outside our room. Promptly at 8:30 he turns it on to wash the pool deck! UGH. Skip was NOT happy about that.

 

 

Straight out the door view

 

 

View to the right

 

 

Then off to the food court to get some hot chocolate. They use to have apple juice at the fountain…so you could get it in your refillable mug, but it is gone now. UGH! I think they replaced it with PowerAde fruit punch. I’m not a big PowerAde fan. I even asked a CM and she was surprised it was gone, and said it must’ve just happened recently.

 

I next made my way through Everything Pop and bought the Castle for Claire. I figured I might as well do it right away, so I didn’t forget. I had to ship it home anyways, so it wouldn’t be taking up any space in our room. It arrived at my house exactly one week later.

 

Here is a stack of them. Notice there are two people in the background with them at the registers. These things were selling like hotcakes. I think another 3 sold while I paid for mine.

 

 

 

I then went on to take pictures inside Everything Pop (the gift shop).

 

 

 

This is new. They redid some stuff over the last year, and this area was added for package pick up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I LOVED this stuff. I really love plaid. But I thought it was kind of pricey, so I never did get any of it. It was so cute though

 

 

This is the lobby about 10:00

 

 

and the food court

 

 

 

I took a quick shot of the arcade

 

 

 

I then had to take a potty break. This is hanging in the bathroom hallway. I couldn’t get a very good shot though, where I could take my time, because evidently that bathroom is a hot spot. People kept walking back and forth, so I just finally clicked and hoped I got something.

 

 

And these are the lights in the bathroom. I thought it was pretty.

 

 

---------------------------

 

I totally forgot to post this when I was posting about CRT. They take a picture in the lobby, like I said, and then at dinner they bring you a photo in a folder for you to keep.

This is it.

 

 

 

 

It was really nice. But somehow I got part of the folder wet that night, so now it’s crinkled a bit. But the pictures weren’t damaged!

Edited by jenseib
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After the potty break I went back to check on my crew in the room. They were still sleeping, but Skip did grumble about the power washer outside. He didn’t think it could possibly be legal.

I then went for a walk and snapped more pictures, called my mom to tell her we made it ok, and how the first day went, and called Skips mom and wished her a happy birthday and updated her as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I saw this truck going by with the “Pop suitcase” on the back. Not sure what it is, but I saw a bunch of the “suitcases” sitting in the main parking lot too. ( later I was told that these bring the luggage from the airport)

 

 

 

I literally took 100 pics that morning, so I’ll stop with these. When I get done with the trip report, I’ll post more.

 

At about 11:25 I decided to wake Claire up.

Skip was up and moving about and he had decided to just hang out at Pop while we went to BBB and he would catch up with us in time for dinner.

 

Claire had a surprise waiting from the Fairy Godmother. A new dress and set of shoes for her BBB appointment!

Here is the note Fairy Godmother left her.

 

 

She was very excited about her new dress. She couldn’t wait to try it on.

 

While I had been out and about all morning I had stopped back into the Pop food court before returning to the room and ordered the Pasta Penne Alfredo with Chicken. I was hungry and figured Claire and I could share it. I knew she would need to have her belly full before we headed off for our big day.

 

I made her sit and eat some of it, and she ate well.

Then I popped her in the tub and washed her hair. She didn’t goof off in the tub like usual, because for one, I was trying to hurry her, but she also was dying to get into that new dress.

We got her out and dried off and then into her gorgeous dress. She kept asking Skip how she looked?

I dried her hair (which she usually is antsy about) and then we made sure our bag was packed and headed out towards the bus. We also took a few pics of her on the way.

 

Evidently this is how Princesses pose?

 

 

We then were off to the MK!

 

On the bus she sat next to a girl who was on her way to the Wonderland tea party. They became instant friends. This little girl had done BBB earlier in her trip and though she was dressed in regular clothes this day, she was wearing a red Belle crown. Claire loved it and wanted one.... of course. The little girl’s mom told me they had gotten it at BBB. Then the little girl kept begging her mom to go back to the room so she could get her Belle dress on. Her mother told her no way were they turning around to go back and put it on. But she could put it on after the tea party.

We arrived at MK.

We went through the bag check and all that fun stuff and then worked our way up mainstreet. We stopped at a few photopass photographers to get some “pre do” shots.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Notice Claire's Lovely face in these pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I also fooled around and put some Holiday borders on some, in case I want to use any for our Christmas card.

 

 

 

 

And more Tinkebell shots

 

 

 

 

 

We also went into a few of the gift shops because I was on a mission to find a new sweatshirt with the current year on it. I have gotten one each year now, and it is sort of become my new tradition.

 

Here are the two I have already.

 

 

 

 

 

In 2007 I had tried 2 on. I was heavier then and was just so frustrated how everything looked on me. I tried on a 2X and a 1X. I thought I got the 1X, but must’ve picked up the 2X by mistake. Anyways I didn’t realize it till late in the day and just wore it and never returned it. So it is really big, but I still wear it around. Last year I got a 1X, but it was more of a woman’s fit, so it fit pretty good.

 

It was hard to move the stroller around in the gift shop, but I found one I sort of liked. I decided I would take more time and look later and perhaps find one I liked better.

 

We got close to the hub and they were shooing people off the street. The “Move it, Shake it, Celebrate” party was coming to an end in the hub and would be making its way down main street. So we got a curb side spot and watched it come by.

 

Edited by jenseib
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Watching the parade go by

 

 

We must’ve been in a good spot because many characters waved directly to us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

With our Destination in site…..

 

 

....We decided to walk around the castle to the back. We stopped off for another photopass since we had time. (I posted those photos already) This guy took his time with Claire and did some cute shots. He even took her to the side to do some special Tinker bell ones and a few others.

Here is what I took while he was taking them. Mine turned out dark for the most part and I have tried to lighten them.

 

 

 

After the photopass shots we then went around to the back of the castle and parked the stroller and got in line to check in at BBB. We got checked in at 1:10 and I told them Claire would also like the red Belle crown and they handed one to us.

I had forgot something in the stroller, so we went back out real quick since we still had time before our actual appointment at 1:30.

 

I took a picture of her with her new crown on, and of course she makes a dorky face.

 

 

Claire did NOT want to wait outside, She was worried we would miss them calling us. I tried to explain we had time, but she insisted we go back in. I really didn’t want to go back in because the waiting are is small and there were a lot of people. Oh well, we went back in.

A little background…

Last trip we had this booked at the DTD location. We had it for our last day. The day before is the day that Claire had gotten sick. She still wanted to go, so we got up early that day and headed over to DTD. Once we got there though she started crying. I think she was still not feeling well (she did A LOT of crying that day) and over tired as well. The FGIT tried to talk her into it, but it was a no go, and we ended up not doing it.

Last summer we went to the Mall Of America and after being there most of the day, I asked her in the evening if she would like to try out Libby Lu and she did, and loved it. And since then has asked several times when do we get to go back to BBB.

 

So today was that day!

 

I clicked pictures inside while we waited. Claire asked about every 30 seconds when it would be her turn.

 

 

 

 

 

It was next to impossible to get any shots of the dresses. People were hoarding around them and it was a tight squeeze in there, so I kind of gave up.

 

 

 

 

 

Waiting impatiently.

 

 

I was secretly a little impatient too.

 

Skip called close to 1:30 asking if we were in yet, and I told him we were still waiting. He said he went for a drive and then drove over to the Richard Petty’s driving experience and was thinking about doing the ride along. I told him to go for it. He said it wasn't until 2 and he wasn’t sure he wanted to wait. He did and he did it. He said it was super cool, but didn’t really tell me too much about it, except that he could feel the rubber blowing on him as they went around the track.

 

About 1:35ish we were called back. Lauren was our FGIT.

She was just OK. I saw others with peppier attitudes and talked more, but I saw worse ones too. Claire picked out the Diva do. I asked her if instead of making the hair look like a bubble (like I had seen in many photos) could she make it more spikey, and she basically said no. She said they had to do it a certain way and if others saw it different then all would ask for that. I was kind of mad about that. I just hate the bubble look. She did say she would try not to bubble it as much. (which I think she totally forgot).

 

 

She asked Claire what color of hair extension she wanted, and what does my kid pick….PINK! (YES....I said PINK)! I said I didn’t think they had pink, but sure enough the do! UGH!

 

 

We also met the photopass guy and I let him know we had pre bought the CD. I think he kept confusing us with the people next to us though. He mentioned to them a couple of times about the CD, and they had no clue what he was talking about, so each time I reminded him it was me. At the time I didn’t think he got that many of Claire and was a bit disappointed. But when I looked at the pictures online I see that he really did take a lot. Much more than what my sister got taken in January. He did miss a lot of the makeup shots though, so I am glad I was there too. His are MUCH better though.

 

Lauren puts her cape on her and goes to town. Now Claire will scream and cry at home when I brush her hair, even when I barely touch it, but she sat quiet and still for Lauren.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

She is just loving all the attention

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gotta test and see if those nails are still wet.

 

 

 

 

And there she goes….Starting the “bubble” process,

 

 

Now the finishing process has begun

 

 

 

 

 

And a sprinkling of pixie dust! Look at that pink ball of cotton candy on her head!

 

 

And then the crown is placed.

 

 

 

Ready for the big Reveal. I had her pull some hair forward. Usually they put a couple of strands in the clips coming forward, at least in the pictures I’ve seen, but she didn’t do that. So I had her just pull some forward to make it look like that.

 

 

 

Now close your eyes.

 

 

 

And then because I am a big IDIOT I leave my camera on autofocus and take really nice pictures of the back of her head, instead of focusing on the mirror. Thanks goodness the photopass pictures came out great. So these “reveal” pictures pretty much suck…..Sorry! She does love her look though….

 

 

 

 

 

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Almost time for the reveal!

 

 

Close your eyes!

 

 

 

The Big Reveal!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After all the fun and pictures and her sash being put on her we proceeded up to pay. Lauren walked up with us and gave Claire her bag of goodies (makeup, nail polish, stickers, extra face jewels and comb). We asked Lauren to sign Claire’s autograph book as well. I paid then. Technically, when you think about it, this was “free” because we used our free gift card we had received with our package. (Same with the castle I bought, for that matter)

 

 

 

Here is a random shot I took while we she was getting done.

 

 

 

Lauren had asked Claire who each of the crowns belonged to. Claire said Belle for almost all of them. She got Jasmines right though.

 

 

 

 

When she was done, she also kept saying.."wait till Dad sees me”. It was so sweet.

 

Immediately when we walked out she got compliments on how she looked and how wonderful her dress was. She wasn’t as gracious as she should’ve been and kind of got nasty later in the day. I had to tell her several times to be nice. These people thinks she’s pretty and scowling isn’t the way to thank them. (Sometimes manners get forgotten when you are a princess and they need to be reminded of)

 

I think I forgot to mention (or maybe I did), that when we were waiting several people asked about getting the dress Claire had on. One girl even started crying because Claire’s dress wasn’t available at BBB. So I had to remind Claire how lucky she was to have such a pretty dress.

 

We then headed back up main street towards exposition hall to do the photoshoot.

 

 

We stopped and got some photopasses again, but not as many and I wish would’ve done more then.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We then went to Exposition hall and got the photoshoot done. Now word to the wise. This is supposed to be for BBB guest who paid for the big package. Others can do it too, but the people at the “desk” don’t really like you to do it unless you have bought the package...meaning they are there to SELL something to you…sooooo…don’t go to the desk. Go straight back to the photographer. (this photoshoot area has since chanced to the Tinkerbelle treasure store behind the Castle.)

 

We had a really nice photographer. I told her (when she asked) that no we didn’t get the photo package, but did pre order the CD. She said “oh good, I can take some special ones then”. Claire made a lot of faces while doing this, but all in all they turned out great. She then took a few with me in them, and most turned out like crap. Claire looked so cute in them, but I have this really weird face going on.

The lady also told us that when Skip met up with us, to come back and we could get some father/daughter ones. She said do NOT go up to the desk and if she wasn’t there anymore, don’t tell the other person that we had already been there. Just tell them we want father/daughter shots.

 

This place is suppose to accommodate any guest wanting pictures, with priority to BBB people, but they also want you to buy a package from them. Which is dumb, since you can have them all put on your card/CD and order what you want at home a lot cheaper.

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The photoshoot

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This one is so funny. The lady told her to gaze up at the light bulb and she really had no clue what she meant, so she just looked at the light bulb.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was really impressed at how many she took.

 

 

 

 

 

I LOVE these. She had Claire twirl in her dress.

 

 

 

 

 

 

She took several of the two of us together and most were really bad. This is about the only decent one.

 

 

And these are with the other photographer. And look how she didn’t even be sure that the framing was done right. She took a picture wider than the background.

 

 

 

 

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